FRC Highlights Potential Trump Religious Freedom Targets

The Family Research Council has been highlighting the “top 20 ways” Donald Trump can dramatically and quickly influence “values issues” in his first 100 days in office.

At #15, the FRC said

Address Regulations Regarding Military Service of People Identifying as Transgender

Notably, FRC simply called on the administration to “address” the regulations — they didn’t explicitly call for the issue to be reversed.

At #18, the FRC said

Strengthen DOD Religious Freedom Protection

Here, the FRC highlighted Service-specific regulations (AFI 1-1, SECNAVINST 1730.8B, and AR 600-20) that it said

limited the standards articulated in Section 532 and 533 of the FY2014 National Defense Authorization Act to protect expressions of belief reflecting conscience, moral principles, or religious beliefs.

In fact, the FRC specifically called for the removal of AFI 1-1 para 2.12 — Mikey Weinstein’s favorite, go-to paragraph.

On a related note, the FRC’s Tony Perkins cited military religious freedom as the first thing in his list about how President Trump can “demonstrate his commitment to religious liberty”:

To start, religious liberty in the military needs to be addressed. Over the past several years we have witnessed chaplains being disciplined for their faith, and religious speech being censored. President-elect Trump can direct that religious liberty in the military be clarified and strengthened, and that appropriate training is conducted to ensure the law is followed.

It will be fascinating to watch whether and how the Trump administration chooses to address these issues — or, for that matter, any of the promises made during the campaign.

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